June 3, 2024
Bank Holiday, Monday June 3rd in Cork, Ireland
Today I helped out with yardwork at Edel's, to earn my keep, trimming her garden hedges - correction her neighbors hedges that were growing wildly into her property. It was actually nice to feel helpful and busy and have a task to dive into! Afterwards, we visited her sister Mags, who I have also met on prior trips, and we had a relaxing lunch in her backyard and the sun actually blessed us with a lovely warmth and afternoon. Mag's made us their family favorite treat for summer, ice cream wafer sandwiches for dessert and we all toasted are good fortune!
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.
Today we were Cave explorers! We went to the one of UNESCO newly classified 7 NEW WONDERS OF NATURE - The Puerto Princesa Underground River.